Customer Comments

Though the historical setting of this book is very well researched, the plot feels rushed by the end, like the dots are just getting connected as quickly as possible. I had a lot of questions that were skimmed over, especially concerning relationships. The characters could have used more time in development; in this book, they're really the weakest link in the holy trinity of fiction (plot-setting-characters), even the most interesting of them are pretty flat. The setting, though, shines enough that I added Zimmerman's nonfiction works to my TBR list.

I love characters with bookish families, and I really liked how this book was written from the point of view of all three sisters at once. Sounds weird, I know, but it works really well. Love the characters' flaws; no one in this book is perfect (except maybe the minister).

I love characters with bookish families, and I really liked how this book was written from the point of view of all three sisters at once. Sounds weird, I know, but it works really well. Love the characters' flaws; no one in this book is perfect (except maybe the minister).

I don't usually go for space settings, but I really liked this book. The bits about what God is or isn't were a little heavy handed, but as it's a major conflict, I'm willing to overlook it.

Certainly an interesting setting with promising characters. Intrigued that people are forced to pick one virtue to of five to dedicate themselves to; if anything about the book was hard to swallow, it was that.

This book offers a little bit of everything, and it's handled most gracefully. (Time travel can be so hard to write about.) Eagerly awaiting the sequel!

A handy overview of modern cloth diapers. A great resource for those interested in cloth diapers but not quite sure where to start--especially since the world of cloth diapering is now way more complicated than prefolds, pins, and rubber pants. Those who are already familiar, especially those who read cloth diapering blogs, aren't likely to learn anything new.

I really enjoyed reading about how Tina Fey came into her career. She's as funny in the book as she is on TV, and she brings a lot of insight to her life, as well. Kinda wish I'd gotten the audio version, though--I heard part of it on the radio & laughed & laughed & laughed...

I don't see what the buzz was about. It was a good enough story, and a very quick read, but I'm at a loss as to why so many people absolutely loved it.

I realize that not everyone will be pleased with this last book. It lacks some of the intensity of the first two books, as Katniss is now fighting not just for her life but for a better life for everyone. The ending, though not as happy an ending as readers probably hoped for, makes sense. It takes into account the growth (and irrevocable damages) of characters, which was probably my biggest concern (that the book's ending would somehow undo all that character growth).

It's been over two years since I read this book, and I still think of it often. I've also recommended it to many people. Very interesting especially if you're pregnant and(/or) have been reading books like Your Best Birth or Ina May Gaskin's Birth Matters.

Did you like DuMaurier's Rebecca? I imagine you'll like this, too.

I'm inclined to love retold fairy tales anyway, but this was such a lovely book. Very impressive. Magical, even.

I love Cashore's Graceling series, and I don't think Bitterblue disappoints. It covers a hard question: how does a kingdom that's been under the crazy, mind-control tyranny of a Graceling move past his reign? Can it come to grips with what he did, what he forced others to do, and overcome the harm he did in order to build a better kingdom? Can his daughter be the queen they need, even when no one will tell her the extent of the horrors to be overcome? I also love that I didn't have to reread the earlier books for this one to make sense. We see the same characters and loose threads get tied together, but if you don't quite remember who Giddon & Po are, you're reminded enough in the context of the story.

A bit predictable so far. Kinda like vampire Hunger Games. Not many unexpected plot twists. I'll probably read the next one, as I suspect it might get better. Three stars might be a bit generous, as there were definitely aspects of the book that I thought should have been tweaked, to say the least.

I really wish there was a recap in the beginning--I've been reading too many trilogies to remember all the details; this one's hard to pick up in the middle of the story. If you read Divergent a while ago, I'd suggest a quick reread before diving in to Insurgent. One of the things that niggled at me through the first book was that I didn't quite buy into the idea of a society separated into factions. How could such complex beings be broken down into a system like that? Happy to report that it gets explained in this book, so those who found that idea too hard to believe in the first book might want to read through this book for an explanation. Other than the drama-queeniness of Tris's & Tobias's relationship (and of Tris herself, sometimes), I found this to be an enjoyable read.

Mia is a pleasant change from other "super power" characters. Somehow, being imbued with power because of a lightning strike (or many) seems like a new idea in this book. Overall, a nice piece of brain candy. And so nice that it wasn't drawn out into a trilogy!

Lots of fun ideas for pre-schooler & grown-ups to make stuff together. Can't wait till my daughter's a bit older and can try these projects with me.

I was hoping for something a little more involved, I think. I felt totally disconnected from the story, with more than one, "Wait--Huh? Why?" moment. (I really wanted to like it.)

A pretty good book, fast-paced with multi-faceted points of view. An exploration of human nature. Characters were all, at some point, hard to like or feel sympathy for, as in real life. I was kind of shocked by the behavior of the adults in the book, sometimes more than the kids'. One really minor but really annoying point for me was the use of the LIE, an interstate road; I don't recall even being told what LIE stands for. Felt like I was being clubbed with the acronym (which may have been intentional).

Wow... Just wow. (If you haven't read this yet, what are you waiting for?)

Even with a 1yo wanting my attention pretty much 24/7 and all the other obligations of being a mom & wife, I plowed through this book in less than 24 hours. I found it refreshing that characters who I thought were going to be stock characters from any number of other teen fantasy books, made some unexpected and quick decisions, and the characters themselves are flawed make some pretty big reflective realizations. Also loved the ending. If Bardugo writes a sequel, I'll read it, but though the ending is pretty open, I feel it could stand alone (I'm relieved to say).

I was drawn to this book for its cover, but was happy to find a well-written and interesting book inside. I enjoyed the characters, setting and plot, didn't find the dialogue to be a burden to the story. It may not sound especially original from its description, but it really is. Greatly enjoyed it, and looking forward to the second installment.

Idiosyncratic style, not exactly original plot, and the characters deserved more time in revision. None of this is unusual in books written for a younger audience, though. I still woke up thinking about this book, though, and my inner teenager is urging me to go ahead and read the next one.

Liked the premise. Plot is just fair. Character development could use some work. Undecided whether I'll pursue the rest of the series.

I found the characters in the first book to be unstable, in that they were described in ways which their actions did not support. That continues in this book. The most discordant moment for me was when the heroine, an Ivy League scholar, was confused about a 16th century wedding taking place at the church door. This is a detail she would have known and would not have had to ask about. That bugged me through the rest of the book. And still, despite the inconsistencies in the books and the unimpressive dialogue, I will almost certainly be reading the third and final installment as soon as it comes out next year, though I imagine I'll scan it just to see what happens rather than read it. (The teenager in me can't resist a moody vampire.)

I was hooked by page 5, but less hooked by page 100. I like the premise of the book, but I think the plot and characters could have spent a little more time on the ironing board. Our heroine Diana Bishop starts off as a strong, smart woman, but devolves into an old-school damsel in distress. The dialogue is unsophisticated (at best) and sometimes even distractingly puerile. I have a lot of the same issues with Harkness's writing in A Discovery of Witches as I did with Robert Jordan's in the Wheel of Time series--the idiosyncrasies of the writing weren't enough to keep me from reading it once, but it dampened my enjoyment, and it's certainly enough to keep me from re-reading it. I really wish I'd known from the beginning that this wasn't a standalone book.

An exciting re-imagining of The Scarlet Letter, set in a dystopian future, and no 20-page ponderings about a rock. I had a hard time putting it down. 4 stars because there were a few places where a scene seemed too contrived.

A pleasant enough mystery. Nice beach reading, I guess; fairly fluffy, as it requires a fair amount of belief suspension, mostly about the decisions our heroine makes. Not reading for people who like a lot of depth in character and plot.

Brilliant, sad, true and uplifting. I borrowed this from the library, but I think I'll buy a copy for myself. It's a story for anyone who's ever been afraid of losing someone they love--and isn't that each of us?

I was hooked by page 5, but less hooked by page 100. I like the premise of the book, but I think the plot and characters could have spent a little more time on the ironing board. Our heroine Diana Bishop starts off as a strong, smart woman, but devolves into an old-school damsel in distress who spends a lot of time fainting in the last half of the book (all the while declaring that she's not a damsel in distress). The dialogue is unsophisticated (at best) and sometimes even distractingly puerile. I have a lot of the same issues with Harkness's writing in A Discovery of Witches as I did with Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series--the idiosyncrasies of the writing weren't enough to keep me from reading it once, but it dampens my enjoyment and it's certainly enough to keep me from re-reading it. I really wish I'd known from the beginning that this wasn't a standalone book.

I read a lot of unforgettable books in 2010, but this is at the top of the list of books I find myself reflecting on. A nearly seamless weaving of a glimpse into the lives of people who all, in some way, are touched by the cellist who sits in the center of a bomb crater and plays one day for every person who was killed in that explosion.

I highly recommend this book for nearly any pregnant woman. The writers are not about making you feel guilty if you want an epidural or other drugs during your labor, or if you need to have an emergency C-section. They do want you to be able to advocate for the best birth you can have for you and your baby, and it tries to present details doctors or hospitals might not mention (or you might not hear) when the pressure's on. That said, it does make a strong case for having a totally natural birth if it's possible to do so safely, and the writers aren't unbiased--they're huge fans of midwives, doulas and homebirths (and after reading this book, you might be too).

Whoever said this book reads more like a novel than a memoir wasn't kidding. Harman writes with blunt honesty of herself, her medical practice (which she runs with her husband), her marriage and family, and her patients. I was fascinated with her career as a midwife, and I simply couldn't put this book down.

This is a book for cat-lovers and supporters of libraries. It made me wish our library had a cat. Myron spends a little more time than I'd have liked (coming from a small farming community myself) detailing life in Spencer, Iowa, past and present; also, the language of the telling gets a little redundant. But this isn't supposed to be a literary masterpiece; it's a work of love for Dewey and Spencer, Iowa, and as such, it accomplishes its purpose admirably.

I read this book several times when I was in 6th-7th grade (but with a different cover--the cover I remember had a Ferris wheel on it). I wish it had been given a more memorable title--this book pops up on "What's the Name of that Book?" groups everywhere. Isn't it funny that so many people remember the story but everyone has a hard time remembering the title?

Dan Brown fans will probably like it. I admire all the work that Trussoni must have done to piece such a promising premise together, but in the end Angelology falls far short of its potential.

The Best American Erotica: 2006 didn't do much for me. I'm sorry to say that I found this collection dull. There was an amusing story called "Stalin's Mustache" that I'll probably remember for years, but the rest of them--pretty forgettable. I'm hoping that 2008 was a better year for erotica. (That's the other edition I have.)

Taylor imagines for her readers a world, which though literally unraveling, is full of magic, destiny, and courage. Magpie is a brave and determined heroine with more than a few friends to help her along with way. And Taylor's writing style is endearing and humorous. Of one of the imps, Taylor describes, "It was the least ratlike part of him, his nose, flesh while the reset was fur, and quite spectacularly large, with each nostril spacious enough to fit his big toes into--which he frequently did." The only parts of Blackbringer that threatened the enchantment of the story and characters were the occasional pro-green assertions about how much humans mess up the (Djinn-created) world. (I'm extremely sensitive to environmentalist hype, and there was a fair sprinkling of it in this book.)

My husband and I were looking forward to this book, but we were very disappointed by The Angel's Game. Every plot twist felt absolutely contrived, the characters often seemed to enter the scene only because it was convenient for them to do so, not because it was a natural chain of events.

In geekish glee I found myself traipsing through this narrative of research, eager and amazed at the lengths academics will go to in order to seek complete answers to their questions. Where did this book come from? Who printed it? Where is the real tomb of Dracula? And is he actually in it? Kostova does a wonderful job blurring the lines of real research with imaginary research, which marries the literary Dracula with the historical Dracula. A fun adventure (even though the ending didn't quite live up to my expectations).

If I were still teaching, I would have multiple copies of this on my classroom shelves. Laurie Halse Anderson has become a favorite YA author amongst both adults and teens alike, and with excellent reason. Her characters are those teens--especially girls--can understand, girls who are survivors of others' crimes or their own malicious webs, girls who develop their strength through the pages, through their own words. If I have one criticism of Wintergirls (and some of her other "issue" books), it's that Anderson has a tendency to wrap her characters' problems up a little too neatly in the end. But because of the brilliance of the writing--and because otherwise, such books could go on forever--I'll overlook that. Wintergirls is the best Laurie Halse Anderson book I've read since Speak.

The story is pretty familiar: peer-ridiculed orphan (with a girl's name) finds himself in unexpected situations and eventually discovers that he has a destiny (which may or may not involve a prophecy). The beginning is a bit slow, but by the time the main character boards what readers will recognize as the wrong ship, you know everyone's in for one heck of a ride. Cornish creates an elaborate steampunk-style world that readers will just be settling into when they get to the end of book #1 (which is only about 2/3 of the book--the last 1/3 is comprised of appendices). You might want to have book #2 on hand when you get there.

Beddor's Wonderland is a place of singing flowers and whispering trees, but also a place of flesh-eating roses and genetically modified card soldiers. Nearly everything can take readers by surprise. Fantasy readers rejoice--you're going to love this!

I didn't finish Three Cups of Tea. It's been nine months since I started it, and now I'm absolutely sure I don't want finish it. The story itself may be good, but the style of its telling could have been much, much better, and it's why I stopped. I found myself making the kinds of notes I'd make on a manuscript--i.e. word choice, fact check, readers may find rhetorical questions unnecessary and annoying, etc. Also, I think this book would have been much better written as a memoir. I was turned off by the book telling the story of one of the authors but not being written in the first person.

It's been a few years since I've read this, but I find myself thinking about it far more often than I would've expected. The histories of kings and their "other women" are fascinating; I had no idea how politically adept these women really had to be. A must-read for fans of royal historical fiction. (If you love Philippa Gregory and her ilk, you want to read this book.)

I really liked this book. In spite of how predictable most of it was, I held my breath, I trembled in anticipation and anxiety, and I stopped reading it for almost a whole day because I wasn't ready to be done. I'd encourage you to buy this for the young women in your life who are inclined to like fantasy. (A good indication of whether they'd like this book would be whether they like Mulan, because it's set in a fantasy realm heavily influenced by Japanese and Chinese cultures.) Just to clear up any potential confusion, this book has actually been published under three titles, depending on who published it: Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, The Two Pearls of Wisdom, and Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye. Don't buy them thinking they're part of a trilogy (though there is a sequel forthcoming).

I got this book for Christmas one year. Loved it. Shared it with all my friends. Lent it out to students I trusted when I became a teacher. Highly recommended for the bookish snobs in your life.

Every bit as good as, if not better than, the first book in the trilogy--which I read twice in three days. How long do we have to wait for the third book?

You know, I was really into this book until the end--I liked how there was no villain, there was no one you could really root for, because it was just a no-win situation no matter what. And even though I saw the ending coming, I really hoped I was wrong; it was the worst ending possible for the story.

Beth Kephart's writing has an elegance I envy: graceful, lyrical and defiantly simple. The characters are so delightful I couldn't get enough of any of them--I wish the book had been longer so that I could have spent more time with them.

This is the best book I have read all year. Even though the main points of the plot are totally predictable, the finer details are so carefully described that I couldn't get my head out of this book for two days after I read it, so I turned around and re-read it. And still had to wait a week to pick up another book. Eagerly awaiting the sequel.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book, and even if I wasn't so crazy about the last couple pages, it's definitely a worthwhile read. (Make sure you familiarize yourself with Newfoundland accents first--it will help.)

This book should probably be one of a few books that hospitals hand to family members of the brain injured before the injured one leaves the hospital. Despite some editorial flaws, it will still provide an initial layer of support and community that they will find helpful.

All in all, I don't think that there's much she advises that books about writing haven't been advising ever since. Keep it simple, don't try to force your voice, etc. If you've read books on writing before, you won't find anything new here; just the same advice in new phrasing and with different examples. I'd probably like it more if the I-want-to-tell-you's and I-am-trying-to-get-you-to's didn't feel condescending.

I loved this book. The characters are well crafted, the plot is smooth. The only glitch is that the timeline at the end of the book seemed oncongruous--but that might've just been my brain on three hours of sleep. It should be noted that this book contains frank sexual situations, drinking, smoking, tons of swearing, flagrant disregard for authority--all the usual stuff that causes parents (or self-righteous community members) to get their feathers ruffled.

I found myself laughing out loud (often in inappropriate settings) at her observations about characters and writers, gender and location, successful novels as gossip. I recommend this book to anyone who loves reading and/or is especially interested in the publishing field, but don't sit down to read this cover to cover. Read a few essays and let them settle before going on to the next few.

The number of characters in the book is its only complexity, but for those who are unfamiliar with science fiction, that may be enough. (A simple plot is not necessarily a bad thing, and this is the first in a series, so perhaps it will get more complex.) At least they stay in one time period--this is not the kind of science fiction that involves time travel, space travel, light sabers or moleculizers. Recommended for teens who have shown a propensity for or even a small interest in dystopian fiction.

I particularly appreciate the way that the narrator points out this this story has no real "villain"--because everyone has good, honorable intentions. No one is behaving badly just for the sake of behaving badly. As so many are in real life, the conflicts in this book are about ideas and ideals. As always, Crutcher writes to encourage teens to think for themselves, to not automatically buy into the beliefs of family and friends without their own examination of the implications of those beliefs. The book also serves as encouragement to read his other books, since he writes about the aspects of his books that are so often challenged, and as he points out, there's not really a better way to ensure that teens will read these books than to suggest or tell them that they're not allowed to.

Many of Crutcher's characters float through these pages--athletic or otherwise--and you will probably never read his books the same way again, because the characters will become a little more real for you. So, yes, read this book. It's funny, sad, and I wish there was more of it. But if you suspect you're like me, wait till you've read all his other books before cracking this one.

A mildly entertaining, if idiosyncratic, read. At least, it was entertaining as long as I didn't think about it too much. I'm not shouting about it from the rooftops.

Last Notes is, foremost, a collection of character studies. The character holds more sway than setting or plot. And no character exists as comedy relief. Each occupies his(/her) own space and insists on being taken seriously, even if they're tottering on the edge of madness. Like a rich seven course meal, these stories are not to be ingested in giant gulps, but in small bites. Each story needs to be given time to settle before moving onto the next course; to try to inhale these experiences like a lunch in less than half an hour would be a mistake. This is a collection to savor.

It's been a while, but I remember this book fondly. It kept me company during a long, rainy weekend in college; I couldn't put it down for long.

Though it's easy to read, I am disappointed that the author doesn't take more liberties with the story. The characters are mostly flat, even Robin Hood. More often than not, the author's idea for the plot seems to define the characters and drive their (sometimes jarringly uncharacteristic) actions rather than the other way around. If you're in the mood for a tale of Sherwood Forest, I would find another. If you're particularly interested in Marian's perspective, I would recommend Lady of the Forest by Jennifer Roberson. You'll find more interesting adventures and more developed characters, and (as I recall) far less character navel-gazing.

This collection of stories--truly short, with the longest story being a mere 20 pages--wonderful to read. I particularly enjoyed Shield's playful sense of language. "Absence" was delightful, ticklish to the intellect, a story about a writer with a stuck key on her keyboard ("But after she had typed half a dozen words, she found that one of the letters on the keyboard was broken, and to make matters worse, a vowel, the very letter that attaches to the hungry self."). Shields herself doesn't use an instance of that vowel in her story. Other stories that I look forward to re-encountering are: "Ilk"--the meeting of a pair of English professors at a conference; the narrative (as a mode) is treated almost as a debatable scientific phenomenon; "Windows"--a couple of artists find the recently imposed "window tax" a new challenge to their creativity; "Weather"--all of the nation's weathermen go on strike, and the country suffers a subsequent lack of weather.

Like a good Part Two of a trilogy or series, this book keeps you involved and at the end, you know you have to read the last one. You just have to.

I can't say that I'm greatly impressed by the book, especially considering all the glowing reviews. Based on this work, I'm pretty ambivalent as to whether I read any more of her books, but Fire in the Blood isn't a drag to read, either. I'm just not sure I'll remember anything about it months from now.

I love how the characters are so well developed by the notes and letters they write. You know Elizabeth's mother is kooky from her first note, which is punctuated with exclamation marks in the first half--the equivalent of standing in front of the fridge and waving her arms frantically to get her daughter's attention--and is followed by a few directions and a warning that if she sunburns her face "like that again," nothing will be left "but bones and brains and eyeballs." Recommended readers: fans of the Georgia Nicholson series, teenage fans of Bridget Jones (I liked this book better than any of the aforementioned), just about any teenage girl who does or doesn't like to read. Very few teen girls won't find themselves in some facet of this book.

For as complicated as the Holocaust was, Yolen manages to compress a considerable amount of the horror into these pages meant for readers of 10-12 years of age.

Though there were some things in the book I was skeptical of (the extent of his post-birth brain injury, for example), the truth is in the characters--the way his best friend reacts to his enrolling in a school off the rez, the way Junior finally sees the rez from a bigger perspective than as an inhabitant of it, and how people not on the rez have their share of problems, too. Fans of both Sherman Alexie and Chris Crutcher should definitely read this book.

More readable than Catalyst (which took a little bit of patience) but not as good as Speak, I would still recommend Twisted to any teen looking for an intense and involved reading experience. Books that are (kind of) in the same vein? Sharon Draper's Tears of a Tiger and Paul Fleischman's Whirligig.

Love it! Recommended for adolescent boys of any reading level, and girls too. This was a favorite read-aloud, and for a while, I had the first couple pages memorized. ("I never had a brain until Freak came along, and that's the truth. The whole truth. The unvanquished truth is how Freak would say it, and for a long time it was him who did the talking." Or something like that.)

This book gives me the terrifying feeling that all adolescent boys are sociopaths. I couldn't shake it. I kind of wish I’d quit reading it when the notion first struck me, but I kept hoping for something redemptive, something to make the discomfort of imagining these characters worthwhile. No such luck. But the story is as engrossing as it is disturbing. I can see why others might like it.

Lots of page-turning goodness, but too many of the other elements didn't work for me. I didn't like the shifting perspectives. Some of the characters took too long to get tied in to the rest of the plot, and because of the perspective shifts, they took too long to get to know. (As the NY Times review says, it "at times derail[s] the narrative momentum.") This book begins with promise and doesn't quite follow through, though readers will find themselves determined to find out what happens despite.

Shift seems to have been written as a form of response to outrageous right-wing personalities' statements and actions. I'm normally a fan of sci-fi dystopias, but this book could've used a softer crafting, more subtlety. Still, the adventure is enjoyable (if predictable) and Shift is probably a great way to get reluctant readers to read some science fiction.

A nice fantasy with mostly female characters (male characters are peripheral), but a bit slow. I suspect that the second and third books are more intense.

I'd be recommending this book to everyone if I hadn't felt so uncomfortably deceived by a trick of the author's. But maybe if you go in knowing not to trust the narrator (omniscient!), you'll have a better experience.

My inner grad student loves the research that obviously went into this book. Not so thrilling is the heavy foreshadowing which removes any element of surprise, but the book is still fun to read, especially for anyone interested in the Salem witch trials.

I can't say I loved it, but it's not without its charms, and it is a very fast read. Animal abuse (not including neglect) takes place out of sight to readers, so readers experience the aftermath, and wounds after the fact aren't quite so hard to read about as watching them being inflicted would be. I was more appalled by the way the humans treated each other.

I wanted so much more for the characters in Sweet Hearts than they were willing to take for themselves. Thon's mastery of her craft is, once more, plainly evident.

The book isn't awful. It's just that the reader has to work a little too hard to stay interested from point A to point B to point C. Mostly, Resnick seems not to have fully realized what she wanted this book to be--a book about marketing or a marketing memoir. It would have been better if she had gone with one or the other. Instead, she straddles the two options, which didn't work for me. And the commenter concerned with Resnick's carbon footprints--she should really read the book, because it's a point Resnick comes back to again and again.

I cried, I laughed, I learned--what higher praise can I give a book? The reader feels Crimmins's fear, grief, helplessness, outrage, and hope while she accompanies her husband to the hospital, deals with her HMO, finds a good rehab center, tries to still be a mother to their seven-year-old daughter (who witnessed the accident), and restructures their lives to accommodate this new version of her husband. Readers unfamiliar with brain injury will learn how intensive and necessary complete rehabilitation is, and that the brain injured are never really going to be their pre-accident (pre-morbid) selves again. Everyone should read this book. Even if you don't know anyone with a brain injury, that's really only saying that you don't know anyone yet.

Holly Phillips creates a remarkably intricate society and land on the brink of revolution. Readers may find the mechanical bits of the fantasy realm confusing at first, but it's worth the effort to push through to experience the extent of Phillips imaginary world.

Yes, Water Ghosts is every bit as haunting as its title suggests. I was left breathless by the last fifty pages. Truly, Ryan has crafted a fantastic collection of lives and illusion in her first published work. I'll be adding her to my list of authors to watch.

I loved this book. Unfortunately, this is the first and the best book in the series. It's all downhill from here.

I emphatically recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt guilty about the piles of mail on the dining room table or who has apologized to guests for their "mess." Also recommended to anyone who has come to Powell's in search of books about organizing their homes/offices/life.

Weebeastology Volume I is a compilation of Weebeast illustrations, without words. Perfect for making up your own stories with your kids! The doll is cute and very soft (as long as you're not bothered by your toy having a Weebeast butt). My only disappointment in Weebeastology is that, because of the paperback binding, a few of the drawings disappear into the middle crease.

Micah Linton has created a beautifully bound kid's book with quirky, fun illustrations. The story is maybe a bit general, but this way it works to anthropologically parallel many parts of human history--how many groups have been forced to find new homes? I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series with my kids someday.

Main character Natalie does too much navel-gazing, mistaking it for reflection. The extent of her navel-gazing gets in the way of other characters' development, which results in mostly static characters throughout. There are also no subplots, so the whole book boils down to Natalie finding/keeping a boyfriend and the subsequent sex. (I'm also most displeased about the scene in which the main character says no and her boyfriend doesn't stop, even if her refusal is only half-hearted.)

Bookish snobs may not be impressed with this book, but fans of Reader's Digest stories will probably like telling of the survival and recovery of two college students badly burned in a dorm fire in 2000.

This was okay. The writing was conversational, relaxed, good-humored; sometimes it dragged. Considering its subject matter, though, it was a little disappointing. As with anything that gets overthought, the topics have totally lost their appeal by the end of their chapters. I think Sagal wrote it that way.

Much like as with Under the Tuscan Sun, the movie and the book versions of Practical Magic seem to have very little in common, except for the characters' names. I feel like I need to read this book again in a few weeks or months, when I'll quit looking for much of what happened in the movie to happen in the book, and be able to fall into it a little deeper. For example, and only because I think you should be forewarned before you read this if you've already seen the movie but haven't read the book (I wish I'd known): there's no ghostly possession in the book, no Sally opening her own store, the girls don't stay little, and there is no midnight margarita party scene.

Chalice is a wonderful story with a strong and determined (if shy and uncertain) woman in the leading role. I'd highly recommend it to any teen (or tween) girl who enjoys fairy tales and fantasy. Also, fans of Deerskin will probably love this one; the storytellingness of the style is very similar.

The memoir bits were fine, but in the first 100 pages, there was too much essay debating what acedia actually is. I didn't care that much about the background of it, and as it was a debate that was obviously going to keep popping up throughout the book, I quit reading.

It looks fun, but it's repetitive and lacking substance.

Frankie is a fun, intelligent character. I found something delightful every time I turned the page.

I thought some of Vowell's snarky political comments cheapened the work, but otherwise appreciated her sarcasm. Felt like it dragged because there are no chapters. Recommend keeping notes of all the players--I kept getting some of the confused.

Take two dishes and place them on your desk. Fill one with adjectives and adverbs which immediately bring to mind associations things often considered evil or wrong, even though in themselves the thing or idea is benign or ambiguous. Fill the other bowl with wide sweeping generalizations and some indistinct segues between actual quotes and random unattributed ideas. Next pick a topically hot subject that most of society is knowledgeably ignorant about but vaguely aware of. Mix together with the skill of a Gamey Bird newspaper trained journalist (Car crash on the front page. If there was none that week, dig one out of the files.) and you will come up with a close approximation to Nikiforuk’s Tar Sands. I got to page 87 and could go no further.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Inkheart; I got a Neverending Story/Pagemaster/Here, There Be Dragons kind of vibe from it, but I didn't have huge expectations for it. (I could have, though, and Inkheart would have exceeded them all brilliantly.) Inkheart is fantastic fun. You should consider it--if not for yourself, then for the kids in your life.

This is a great book for fall reading; unreliable narrators are the best when the leaves are dropping outside, and you're curled up with a blanket inside, a hand curled around a mug of hot chocolate.

The characters in The Grift run the gamut of familiar (but enjoyable) California archetypes, whose piddly little issues take on characteristics of cartoon snowballs rolling down a hill until they lead to real, dangerous problems. This book was exactly what I needed to read: a little funny, a little sad, well-paced and intense.

Northlander is a compelling tale that reminded me of Cynthia Voigt’s YA fantasies, though not quite as polished. If you know a tween girl who likes fantasy, this would be a logical choice for her.

A fun bit of historical fiction for young readers. Maggie is a thoughtful, complicated kid who gets stuck in a tough situation when the price of chocolate goes up after WWII, just before she gets a chance to buy one as a gift for her best friend's tenth birthday. Empowering and charming, this book would probably be a perfect fit for fans of the American Girl series (though this book is set in Canada--Victoria, BC, to be precise).

Possibly my favorite piece of fiction. If you love fairy tales, you must read this book.

A fun adventure, chock-full of references to classic fantasy books, world mythologies and Arthurian legends. If you're considering this as a gift for a reader who is unfamiliar with these, I would suggest looking into companion books for their further edification.

I couldn't get into the kid-style narration and quit about 1/3 of the way through. It's painful enough to read nine-year-olds' writing when they haven't mastered complete sentences yet and it's only a couple of pages long; I didn't feel I needed to subject myself to an adult imitating that for a couple hundred pages.

I don't trust raw foods diets, so this book's not for me. I had been hoping for a book that wasn't going to ask me to change my whole eating style. (I only had the main title to go on at the time.) If you're a raw foods fan, this book might be helpful. Especially if you don't mind the occasionally condescending tone or the initial feeling that you're reading an infomercial.

My only complaint is that I'll need the book the first few times through each massage technique, but I'm sure I'll be a quick study. The descriptions plus illustrations make this an almost foolproof guidance book.

Not my favorite of Gaiman's work, but fun nonetheless (once I got past page 85).

Knowing almost nothing of Spain's history, I found this book a little confusing because the politics of the Spanish Civil War aren't explained. Also, the characters are just a little too perfect. Others may love this book; I do not.

It's supposed to be ridiculous and funny. Instead, it's ridiculous and far from funny. Oy.

This is the edition I recommend to anyone new to Jane Austen's works. The appendices and footnotes are ever so helpful in understanding the satire in Austen's characters and situations.

This book is hilarious! Plus, it makes reading novels of the South funnier (and more understandable to those who haven't lived in the culture).

I was more disappointed than I'd anticipated. (And yes, I did anticipate some disappointment, as I'd been a little more let down with each book following Twilight.)

This collection of stories created a world for me that I found completely foreign and uncomfortable, which is not necessarily a bad thing. There are some very memorable characters, who I think will be harder to forget than I thought at first. Krasikov is very good at her craft.

Imaginative and well spun. You'll dream you're part of Juana la Loca's world; I'm fascinated by this person I never realized even existed. Gortner is right up there with Phillipa Gregory, and I hope he experiences similar success; I look forward to reading his next work of historical fiction.

I grew up on US Route 20, so I thought I'd get a kick out of this book. I also thought that it would be about road tripping on 20. But I didn't and it wasn't. Perhaps the book was good in concept, but the reality is less than satisfying. I found the writing incongruous, uninteresting, and full of flaws I'd expect an educated writer to iron out before publishing.

Why did I put off reading this marvelous book? Highly recommended for high school and adult readers, and precocious middle school readers. (Figurative language is a prominent feature of The Book Thief; very literal readers may have issues.)

I read this book ten years ago. I am haunted by Harpman's story. Truly unforgettable.

Even though I took three or four days to work my way through this installment, I mostly took my time because I realized that there's a fourth book forthcoming and I hate waiting. I thought I'd had my fill of teenage angst, but for the next week I woke up wanting to reading for the fourth book. (I'd have given it five stars, but the poorly written dialogue, which is heavily relied on to move the plot, drives me batty.)

Again, I almost hate to admit that a book that leaves much to be desired stylistically can still make me forget to come up for air. I read this one, too, in a day, almost in a single sitting. I didn't like the second as much as the first, but still, I couldn't put it down. And what I expected was not what happened; I liked that surprise. After reading the first two of Meyer's books, I really think Meyer must have been a fan of LJ Smith's Vampire Diaries...

I almost hate to admit that a book that leaves much to be desired stylistically--which won't bother most teens as much as it bothered me--can still captivate me. I read it in a day and almost considered canceling my whole schedule so that I could read it cover to cover in one sitting.

I can't remember the last time I woke up and the first thing I wanted to reach for was my book, but after Marianne Engel showed up in the burn ward, I kept The Gargoyle on my bedside table until I reached the end. I didn't think I'd be able to relate to the narrator at all based on the first few chapters, but once Marianne became the story-teller, everything was possible. It's a book replete with despair, love, hope, faith and redemption--the best kind of romance.

I love this book! Language, characters--all fantastic.

This book is right up there with Number the Stars (possibly even better) when it comes to YA Holocaust historical fiction. At first, it seems too simple because we know how huge the Holocaust was, but each survival story was different, and this is one (fictional) story. This, like Lowry's Number the Stars, is a great book to use to introduce kids to the horror that was the Holocaust.

I really enjoyed this novel of layered storytelling. Silver makes for an interesting narrator. (She reminds me of Lucky in The Higher Power of Lucky, actually--except that this isn't a children's book.)

I enjoyed this book--wanted to take in every word. (No dull descriptive parts to skip over here.) And Blue, our narrator and main character--how fantastic she is! I especially appreciated her tendency to comment via parenthetical references to works of literature, criticism and art.

I love Junior and how brave he manages to be, leaving the rez (becoming public enemy #1) to go to a better school, to dream bigger than anyone else he knows. I started reading this the second period of a day of substitute teaching and finished twenty minutes before the end of the school day. I loved it, and recommended it to several students who looked a little interested when I laughed at the part I was reading. (A couple times it was really hard not to cry in front of them all.) The style reminded me a lot of Chris Crutcher's style, maybe because of the basketball.

Twisted tells the story of a smart kid who did something stupid (but not particularly harmful) in order to get some attention, and who is now paying ten-fold for his prank when some nasty things happen to a girl in his school. A lot of the tension in the book is between Tyler and his father, which is compounded by the pressure on him at school from teachers, administrators and students. It's not a pretty story, but it's not supposed to be. Those who liked Draper's Tears of a Tiger or Anderson's Speak and/or Catalyst should check this out.

Such a Pretty Girl reads quickly and as easily as such a book can. Unfortunately, I don't think (even with its emotionally charged flashbacks) that it quite adequately captures the extent of the turmoil of sexual abuse and having to your abuser again. Wiess gave it an admirable try, though. Junior high and high school readers who are into books like A Child Called It and Speak (Laurie Halse Anderson) and Cut (Patricia McCormick) will be interested in this book.

Book lovers everywhere should read this mystery about a book, readers, characters, authors... love and vengeance...

The magic and characters are really fun. The writing... eh. Overall, it reminds me of the movies Practical Magic and Sleeping with the Enemy, with a slightly less satisfying ending. This is a good choice when you want a fluffy, easy girl/chick novel (and you don't mind that the women in it tend to be more than a little wimpy).

This is a very well researched book, so if you're interested in life in the 18th century, this book describes the life (though not typical) of a maidservant, medical theories, and opium addiction. However, I can think of historical fictions with better plots and characters; the plot here hinges on bizarre research of the master of the house and the characters prove inconsistent. At the end, I felt that the author was in a hurry to be done with the book.

This is a book driven by characters (and what an array!) more than plot. All of them carefully planned--including the apparent protagonist, who never really fully develops; he acts more as a catalyst for other characters. And I really enjoyed how much I didn't like most of the characters--horrible people, most of them. It made for such interesting reading. The ending feels a bit rushed (hence four stars instead of five), but getting to the end is a strange, intense journey well worth your time.

I do not understand why people liked this book so much. It's predictable, the writing style is nothing special, and the puzzles that should have been fun for the reader weren't.

The unusual setting and the enchanting and well-flawed array of characters make this a warm, memorable book. I especially like Lincoln and his affinity for proper punctuation.

This book is really a 3.5--a pretty average book for teens, complete with an assortment of odd characters and situations. It's entertaining and well written--and would be a nice break, I think, for the kids who are finishing up reading assignments like Beowulf, The Scarlet Letter, Great Expectations, or any other of the heavier bits of the canon. (I feel that it's necessary to say that I probably wouldn't have chosen to read this book had it not been for the cover.)

I'm happy to report that in In The Last Summer (of You & Me), Brashares has not changed her writing style, despite changing her audience (a little). In short: it's wonderful, beginning to end, even when you're crying and can barely see to read.

This book turned out to be way more focused on Woodruff's (or the Woodruffs') pre-injury life than about the recovery; I would have preferred to read more about Bob's recovery process, and about how Bob's treatment by collaboration of military and private doctors has changed how military brain injuries are handled. (Lee mentions this, but doesn't elaborate.) But the pre-injury stuff is pretty fascinating and the bilateral element--both Bob's and Lee's points of view--offered a nicely rounded perspective on situations. B+

How do you resist a book that begins, "How can you weave a life from fairy tales?" The story of young immigrant Kathrin is easy to fall into. Fairy tales are integrated as part of the main plot and as parallels to her life--as Kathrin sees it. (The reader will see things a bit differently.) People will call this book unconventional, but only because the relationship between Kathrin and Violet becomes Sapphic. Like all fairy tales, this is a story of maturation, fear, and love--and it's well worth your attention.

This is a fantastic, fast-paced, mind-blowing journey through human experiences with choices, motivations and death. Succinct, really, though that's not a word that often gets applied to books. You love, hurt and pray for Zits, the self-deprecating nickname our foster kid, "half-breed" protagonist offers, as he jumps from body to body and time to time, offered a miraculous opportunity to see others' choices about death before he makes his own, potentially tragic decision about the gun(s) in his pocket. A little bit historical fiction, a lot teen angst, this book should be encouraged reading in every high school (despite the language).

"My house is me, and I am it. My house is where I like to be, and it looks like all my dreams." The Big Orange Splot is about being able to express yourself, even when others don't want you to. It takes place in one of those suburban neighborhoods where all the houses look alike, and then one day, a seagull carrying a can of orange paint (no one knows why) flies over Mr. Plumbean's house and drops the can of paint (no one knows why). His neighbors, who are very proud of their nice, neat street encourage him to take care of the eyesore, so Plumbean considers the problem, and then goes to the hardware store... This is one of my favorite children's books (and my sisters', too)! Mom used to read this to us on a regular basis before we could read it ourselves, and I still enjoy this book as an adult.

I love the cover--that alone would have been difficult for me to resist. The characters are, for the most part, well developed, and Emma's/Anna's involvement with the Jewish resistance makes for a driving plot. The only character who was underdeveloped was the Kommandant himself, but I'm not sure that we would find his so irresistible otherwise. In sum: an intense and enjoyable book.

I never would have read this book, I think, if it hadn't been an assignment for one of my classes. To my delight, not only did I enjoy it, I think it was one of the best books I've read. Smith has awesome characterization skills, and a rich appreciation and respect for her setting (Appalachia). I will be reading this again.

One of my favorite books. Crutcher's characters are real--sincere, passionate, traumatized, opinionated, short sighted, flawed. An excellent book for challenging ideas.

Wow--I had no idea that Crutcher's life was like this. I thought he'd been better at sports (since all of his books have athletic characters) and probably a whiz at school, particularly English. But really, his life isn't any more unusual than anyone else's life--he was surprisingly unathletic and not very motivated when it came to school. He had dreams of magnificence and usually fell flat on his face. Teens and adults will appreciate the humor and lessons learned (often by incessantly repeating a particular mistake), but be forewarned--Crutcher is blunt and honest about every aspect of his life, especially his life as a teenage boy. Just about every reason any parent or school ever had for challenging or banning a book, it's in here. Not that that's anything new for a book by Chris Crutcher.

This is not a great book. It's not even a good book. I like the fantasy genre, and I like teen and YA books, but I could not get past the tedious dialogue and the convenient contrivances of the plot. It got to the point where I dreaded even facing another page. (and everything reading4years said, too.)

Excellent. I've read chapters with my students (middle school, high school, and college freshman) to encourage them to develop their own writing processes, instead of doing the usual student process (handing in the first draft). Lamott is very funny, upbeat, and motivating about writing, a subject that makes other writers who write about it seem condescending.

Osborn's memoir probably wouldn't be considered remarkable, except that most brain injury memoirs are those of parents' or spouses', so Osborn's story of her own brain injury, recovery, and rehab is unique. To anyone who values his or her own intelligence, this is a frightening book.

I'm not a huge science fiction fan, but this book had me hooked till the end. I frequently felt like I was in a video game that someone else was playing, even though the internal conflicts in the story far outweigh the external. Brilliant characters, wonderful descriptions, fabulous book.

Ellie thinks mostly about two things: sex (and/or the guy she's having it with) and art. The style of her observations and the short chapters remind me of Speak (by Laurie Halse Anderson), and though Better Than Running at Night isn't exactly the same caliber as Speak, the characters and conflicts are enough to compel a reader to keep reading. I would have read this book in one day when I was in high school, though I probably would have been embarrassed by the sex scenes (which are far from smut-level, but detailed enough to make many parents raise eyebrows). I'd encourage middle schoolers to wait a few years before reading this one.

I cried, I laughed, I learned--what higher praise can I give a book? The reader feels Crimmins's fear, grief, helplessness, outrage, and hope while she accompanies her husband to the hospital, deals with her HMO, finds a good rehab center, tries to still be a mother to their seven-year-old daughter (who witnessed the accident), and restructures their lives to accommodate this new version of her husband. Readers unfamiliar with brain injury will learn how intensive and necessary complete rehabilitation is, and that the brain injured are never really going to be their pre-accident (pre-morbid) selves again. Everyone should read this book. Even if you don't know anyone with a brain injury, that's really only saying that you don't know anyone yet.

This is an apropos book for today's illegal immigration American politics; Boyle creates a pair of foils in the snooty, bigoted white couple living in LA suburbia and the illegal aliens who are just trying to make a better life for themselves through hard, manual labor. The illegals kept finding themselves with a whole hand of bad luck, while the white couple (a nature writer and a real estate agent) is determined to remain as oblivious to what they don't want to see as possible. I found the white characters difficult to like, as was intended, and often I found the illegal man difficult to like as well. and I hated the ending, because it felt like an easy way out of the whole entanglement, though I'm sure others will find it heavily symbolic and blah blah blah.

As someone who knows shamingly little about religion and politics in the Middle East, I thought this book would be a good way to begin my self-education, even though it's more than a decade old. as a memoir of a journalist, it's easy reading, often fascinating and filled with vignettes and interesting people, including the King Hussein of Jordan and his queen Noor. I particularly enjoyed how the book covered most of the Middle East, and contrasted the differences of Islamic influence over international, national, and family politics. it was a very good foundation, and while I'm sure Brooks thoroughly researched everything she wrote, I'm ready to learn more.

Amazing--a book that is all at once about war and survival and friendship and love and truth and telling stories. O'Brien has written a true masterpiece.

I find it interesting that Bruce undertook this project, the biography of a once-popular author who has become almost unheard of. Bruce has obviously done his legwork to put the story of Thomas Boyd together, and despite the writing style issues I had with the book, the overall work is worth reading if you're interested in obscure authors, or other writers of the F. Scott Fitzgerald/Sinclair Lewis era.

I didn't like this collection of poetry the first time I read it. But upon a second reading, I realized that the whole thing was lent a sort of extreme, satiric comic book feel by the characters' names, like Fire Boy, and a whole new appreciation was born. Now, it's become one of my favorite modern poetry collections.

Daniel Handler has a way with words. And characters. I love how, in this book, no character is ever the same from one chapter to the next. Once you get over trying to make sense out of that part, it's fantastic. The characters are at once fantastic and real. You're bound to connect with two or three of them. Actually, this reminded me of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried in the sense that the stories get retold, but are never the same twice. Brilliant.

Political cartoonists are an endangered breed because fewer and fewer newspapers willing to keep them on staff. In this book, Bok reflects on his editorial/political cartoons from the Nixon era to the current war in Iraq. Everyone and everything is fair game. These cartoons are valuable both to the people who have lived this history, and to the people who were born somewhere in this time, most of whom have little sense of the bigger political events of their childhood. This would also be a priceless tool for history teachers at college, high school, and middle school levels.

An interesting peek into the world of petty thieves in Edinburgh and at what pushed the famous William Burke and William Hare and their wives to murder people to sell the bodies to medical researchers (because "mutilating" cadavers was illegal). The book focuses mostly on the murders/murderers (despite the title), but does explore why smaller crimes were tolerated at such a high rate of occurrence, and why these murders were considered particularly heinous.

With the same inviting style as Under the Tuscan Sun, Mayes takes readers once again on her adventures as an American in Italy. I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed Under the Tuscan Sun. There seems to be less about renovating the house and more about the culture (and lots about gardening), and we get to know the neighbors better.

Following its myriad characters through romantic heartbreak and delight, this movie is an uplifting and magical treat. I think I'll go watch it again right now.

yummy--Marcia Adams has fabulous taste when she chooses what to put in her cokbooks. (The Very Best Brownies in Heartland is one of my favorite recipes.)

Reading this book was like being inside are very interesting sci-fi video game. (I always preferred making up the stories behind video games to actually playing them.) Intense and well written. I think this would make a great gift for those who have read Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide series (teens and adults alike).

I'm rating this with three stars because the story itself was good, but I was disappointed not to get anything new from reading the book. It was exactly like the movie. (Just rent the movie.)

I can't believe I tolerated as much of this book as I did; it was one huge cliche from beginning to end. I threw the book across the room--finally--eight pages from the end, when I finally gave up on anything original coming from this experience. You'll know the entirety of the plot from page five, so don't bother reading it.

This book had its moments. Maybe it would have had more, but I stopped reading 2/3 of the way through. I couldn't muster enough concern about Alice or her husband or their children to make the last third of the book worthwhile. I don't even care whether Alice did it or not.

This was a lovely movie. I laughed, I cried. I walked out of the theater appreciating life.

A delightful collection of truly short stories. Shields plays with language in a way that refashions a reader's connection with words and people. I'll be rereading this.

A fascinating combination of science fiction and historical fiction. This book opens with a personal identity-stripped "utopia" and takes readers--and the main character--to a town with a Jewish population that is about to be blamed for the black plague.